Patreon?

[Shadow]

So I have been thinking of setting up a Patreon account for a long time now. The main point would be to steady our finances a bit if that is possible and we have been asked many times over the years if there was a way to donate money to us to ensure we keep making games.

The problem I keep running into is what could we offer in return (other than keeping us in business)? There are lots of things that we could do like exclusive videos, Q&As, exclusive posts, design input, etc. However most of these I feel like I really should release to the public to get more marketing presence, I already do and don't want to put behind a paywall, or I feel like it would fragment our already small community even more.

I have two ideas that I keep coming back to. The first is to have a Backer/Donation page on our website and possibly on the credits page in the latest game. This would list everyone (probably highest to lowest donation) that has ever donated or during the development period of the game in question. But would this interest anyone?

The other is to allow backers at a certain level to design a unique item, level, or monster every once in a while for our game that is in development at the time. Basically they would suggest the name, level, and modifiers. It would have to be approved of course (no Boaty McBoatFace). This might interest people and is not something we've really ever offered that I remember. Any interest?

Thoughts? Ideas of better rewards?

[Castruccio]

I am interested in all of these options. If you are considering exclusive posts, videos, previews, etc., they don't have to be exclusive forever. Backers/Patrons can just get them a week ahead of everyone else. Lots of devs do that. I'd also be interested in designing a monster, item, class, etc., or writing a small story for a player quest. Early alpha access might be an interesting tier, and might help you with feedback.

Hopefully other people can think of additional rewards. Another problem would be publicizing your Patreon (if you went with Patreon). Some of us on this forum would sign up, but I'm not sure how many people that would amount to total. You are popular at QT3, so maybe some of those folks would sign up, or maybe random people on the steam forums who like your games if you made a post on Steam.

[Bluddy]

In general, I would recommend that you open up your development process more. Set up a Trello board and post issues on there. Let your users post what they would like worked on. You could have rights to the Trello board limited to Patreon contributors.

[Kreb]

The purpose of Patreon is to allow people to support your work because they want to support it. So think less in terms of value for subscribing, and more in terms of thanking people for their support. NPR does it right with cool "thank you" gifts—shirts, mugs, etc.—items that have little general value, but feel special to persons who donate.

I would not recommend implementing rewards which fracture you player base by making non-Patreon customers feel like they're getting a second-class version of the game. CMON is infamous for this type of reward—to the point that it feels almost pointless to buy their products unless you were a kickstarter backer because the game is missing major portions.

[Shadow]

Thank you all for the feedback!

[Shadow]

I decided to go ahead and set up a Patreon page and offer unique items, levels, monsters, NPCs, renegades, minor clans, chests, and gravestones.

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Bluddy

In general, I would recommend that you open up your development process more. Set up a Trello board and post issues on there. Let your users post what they would like worked on. You could have rights to the Trello board limited to Patreon contributors.

I'm not sure about the Trello part. I'm not opposed to opening up more though. Could you elaborate on what you wish was more open?

[Bluddy]

Originally Posted by Shadow

I'm not sure about the Trello part. I'm not opposed to opening up more though. Could you elaborate on what you wish was more open?

I can describe what I've seen other indie devs do. Pocketwatch Games, for example, plans out their next steps via Trello. They have a Trello board where users with permissions can suggest new features or comment on existing ones. Example of the board: https://trello.com/b/N8EzNonZ/tooth-and-tail-roadmap

Beamdog Games has 2 Trello boards -- one for their own use, which is private but viewable, and one for users to add requests to. Issues with enough support get moved to the private board by Beamdog staff.

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Bluddy

I can describe what I've seen other indie devs do. Pocketwatch Games, for example, plans out their next steps via Trello.

So they basically show what has been done, what their priorities are, and their users can submit things. Interesting. Which parts of that do you like best?

I'm trying to picture how well I could fit Trello into my process without too much disruption. Also, if it is not feasible, I'm considering what I could do that works better for me and you guys might actually find useful.